That sounds exactly like not wanting to date a black person, does not make you racist... just saying absurdly exaggerating

Bad analogy. It's like saying "I don't want to date an IV drug user because of the health risks and financial drain involved, and it indicates that they may not have a good control over their own life." Black people aren't harmful to themselves or to be around just because they're black.

I don't want to turn this into a smoking debate thread (we had one of those on the forum before). I will say that I, and perhaps many others, aren't necessarily upset at the smokers themselves. I'm upset with the tobacco companies. If cigarettes were harmful but not addictive, I'd say that it's a smoker's choice and, sad though it may be, I have no business telling them what to do with their body (but there should be health insurance penalties for that choice - I don't want to pay for their poor decisions when the feathers hit the fan).

The fact that it's addictive is what riles me up. Take a look at syn - she tried to quit, but couldn't. She's stuck on an expensive habit that ups her risks of cancer and lowers her quality of life, and she's going to have to struggle psychologically and physically if she wants to get out of it. All smokers do. In America, the average smoker who tries to quit fails 6-8 times before they're able to successfully kick the habit. Can you imagine how much willpower it must take to make the effort after failing that much, let alone the willpower required in each day to avoid succumbing?

Put it this way: Coca Cola originally laced their drink with trace amounts of cocaine. The idea was to get customers hooked on the drink without knowing why - they'd be craving Coca Cola (coke) and would keep buying and drinking. Excellent business strategy, horrible disregard for human life. The government didn't tolerate that sort of practice, that taking advantage of people, and the formula was forcibly changed. I really don't understand why cigarettes are still legal as they are. If the tobacco companies change their formula to remove the addictive factor, let the people do what they will. Otherwise, they are taking advantage of consumers.